4:30 pm: Most of AmerenUE’s customers in more than a dozen St. Charles, St. Louis City and St. Louis County communities affected by today’s strong winds are expected to have their power restored by this evening, company officials say.
Crews have already restored power to more than half of the 51,000 AmerenUE customers who lost power when the storm hit its peak at 9:00 a.m. this morning. Most of those outages occurred in the St. Louis metropolitan area, where strong winds—combined with soil softened by days of heavy rains—caused large trees and tree limbs to fall on hundreds of power lines.
Today’s unusual storm was also characterized by a continuing period of sustained high winds rather than a quick blast of harsh weather, officials add.
However, with more than 700 UE lineworkers, tree-trimming crews and other support staff from across the state working on the restoration effort, the company is releasing a list of communities that should expect to see most power restored by the end of today, May 11. Following is the list of communities, though please note that isolated outages may still remain in these areas:
• Bel Nor
• Berkeley
• Breckenridge Hills
• Brentwood
• Bridgeton
• Clayton
• Glendale
• Greendale
• Hillsdale
• Ladue
• Maryland Heights
• Manchester
• North St. Louis City
• Olivette
• Pagedale
• Pine Lawn
• Richmond Heights
• St. Charles
• St. John
• St. Ann
• Sycamore Hills
• University City
• Velda Village
• Vinita Park
• Wellston
Crews will continue will to work as long as they can into the evening. The remaining customers in the hardest-hit areas of St. Louis County are expected to be restored sometime tomorrow.
“The most important message we have for our customers and employees now is safety, safety, safety,” said AmerenUE Senior Vice President Richard Mark. “Conditions are very treacherous for our workers. There are a lot of lines down, a lot of trees down and the potential for more limbs and trees to fall as the strong wind gusts continue into the evening. We urge our customers to stay clear of any downed power lines and to report downed lines to 800-552-7583.”
Mark added that customers using a backup generator must follow all safety precautions listed in the owner’s manual and only use them in well-ventilated areas.
Other tips for customers’ safety and for coping with winter power outages can be found on the Ameren Web site: www.ameren.com.
AmerenUE serves 1.2 million electric customers and 125,000 natural gas customers in Missouri. It is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren Company. The Ameren companies serve 2.4 million electric customers and nearly one million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square mile area of Missouri and Illinois.
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CONTACT: Tim Fox of AmerenUE 314.554.3120